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Topic: Change of Terms at rootsireland.ie (Read 12498 times)

I just noticed this. The cost of a record is now "AS LOW AS" 2.5 Euro instead of 5 Euro, depending on how much credit you purchase.

However, if I'm reading this correctly it will now cost you to search. You are allowed 10 free searches to learn how to use the search facility.

See: Roots Ireland"From 22nd March 2012: The rootsireland.ie Online Research System is now using a credit system. All user balances have been upgraded to the new credit system automatically. There has been a reduction in the cost of a single record from 5.00 to as low as 2.50, depending on the amount of credits purchased. However, all users will be charged 1 credit for a page of 10 index search results at 00.10 cent (EURO) per page. Every user will be given 10 free searches to familiarize themselves with the system."

PLEASE POST YOUR QUESTIONS TO THE BOARD, NOT THROUGH PM, so that everybody can take a shot at answering your question and benefit from the information. I cannot respond to requests through private emails.

Barnane, Cahalane, Collins, Connolly, Driscoll, Hourihane, Hurley, Looney, McCarthy, Mahony, Sweeney, Young in Skibbereen area of southwest County Cork, Ireland; Regan in RoaringWater bay area and in Caheragh parish

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The major change is for searching; obviously to gain revenue from those of us who searched with names and parishes until we found a match but DIDN'T purchase the record.

I did this quite often - the site stated that if they felt you were abusing the search facility without purchasing records; they would contact you and in some cases cease your log in.I wanted to buy the actual civil certificate in many cases as genuine proof; their transcripts are, as are many, not 100% accurate.

They are now charging a nominal fee for basic or extensive searching .

My major gripe with the website over the time has been as I've been using it is; I have found two or three people that appeared at first to be different people, only to purchase the records and see that they were the same; also after the last change initially, when you found several records with a search and they turned out to be ones you previously purchased but without the warning; to be fair here after discussion they gave a refund.

I also discovered the changes to the terms of use at the week-end. I was very annoyed as their charges are dear enough as it is. I told them that I would use up my remaining credits and never use them again. This is the reply I got:

"The changes in our site today, including to a credit system, have taken place after a lot of time and investment. Feedback from customers over the past 4 and a half years showed that users would pay a small fee for access to our very valuable and unique index and would like a cheaper price per record. We have therefore taken on board the model of Scotland's People which was cited by many as an ideal search and payments system.

Any single search of the index will now cost 1 credit to view a page of 10 search results. (One credit = 00.10 cent).

Any single record will cost 25 Credits . By bulk buying credits you can avail of significant savings. Please see the bulk purchase options listed below.

I'm afraid it is much worse than it appears. If you are doing just one or two searches on spec, or looking to trace families to a specific named couple, the cost of records will now actually be significantly more than the apparent savings on offer.

In the past RootsIreland had a discount scheme if you had several children born to a couple - the more records the cheaper the cost. For example, eleven to fifteen records would costs just 30 Euros. If I look and find 15 kids now, it will actually cost 42 Euros to view the records in the new set up, as I will need 377 credits - 2 credits for the index returns listing the kids (over 2 pages, 10 entries on the 1st, 5 on the second), and then 15 x 25 credits to see the actual records - so 375 credits +2 credits for the searches = 377 credits. The cheapest way I can see to do this is to buy 42 worth of credits - 10 for 73 credits and 32 for 320 credits, giving me a total of 393 credits (so 16 left over). The maths is horrendous and I have written down other examples on a blog post at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/rootsireland-makes-search-and-payment.html

RootsIreland has also disabled the ability to do a parent search at the parish level - it can now only be done at county level. You don't see them advertising that anywhere! This is to me the bigger disaster with the new site - they have regressed the search functions, meaning you may end up paying for more false positives when consulting records.

The basis of the new model appears to be gambling - a gamble that you may need lots of credits as you might find lost of records - so pay more, get more credits, get a discount. Except that falls completely flat on its face when you end up just finding a single record and then have hundreds of credits to spare!!

It's all a bit of a disgrace really, and Ireland now seriously needs to open up to the idea of competition. I personally hate the idea of being held hostage to my own heritage by a single guardian that feels that it can charge us what it feels like and expect me to just take it.

I would urge all those who are dismayed by the new set up to email them at enquiries[at]rootsireland.ie .

We have therefore taken on board the model of Scotland's People which was cited by many as an ideal search and payments system.

That is the nub of it - these people appear to be so stupid that they have not checked out ScotlandsPeople

ScotlandsPeople is relatively cheap and efficient, as you can narrow down your options with completely free searches, before starting to pay. On this lots model, you cannot narrow your options before you pay, it is having to buy the proverbial pig in the poke

Quote

It's all a bit of a disgrace really, and Ireland now seriously needs to open up to the idea of competition. I personally hate the idea of being held hostage to my own heritage by a single guardian that feels that it can charge us what it feels like and expect me to just take it.

Yes that is what they are doing. I cannot see that emailing them and getting a sanctimonious template email back will help anyone.

Grant in TipperaryPiper in TipperaryBlong in LeixWatson in OffalyPugh in North WalesEvans in North WalesProctor in EdinburghSteedman in Stirling

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